Monday, February 28, 2011

Why I remix

 After being absent for some days I decided to give you my own reasons for remixing. Just think of this post as the proof that I will continue my remixing adventure even if it's soon March and all the other bloggers are done with it!!So.....

 Why do I remix?

    By accident (partly)!  When I applied for that remix thing I was really new in blogging (heck – I’m still new!), so I thought that a busy blog like Kendi’s wouldn’t bother with my lousy 2-3 posts. (see here). But Kendi is a sweet girl after all so she took me in! I could have said no if it wasn’t for my pride. “Hey, I thought, that’s easy. Maybe I can teach them something”. Haha, yeah – It’s NOT that easy! !  So let’s focus on the real reasons now...

   To define my style. I was always an impulsive shopper, meaning that every time I saw something at a shop window that “clicked” I’d try it on and if it was my size, I’d take it with me and give it a home!! Some of those clothes when tried on for the second time were too short, too tight, too loud to fit in my closet (or all of the above)!  By repeating you can observe through the photos and “see yourself as others do”, define your personal “style” and shop accordingly in the future.



   To get the mentality. Remixing is trying to be creative with every single one of those 30 items. By doing this every day, it becomes a “habit” and as soon as the challenge is over I can’t wait to practice with the rest of my clothes. Hopefully that will make me understand what I need to buy instead of what I want to buy. 

   Due to the recession. That’s right!! I was never too much of a spender. Or a shopper. But I can spot a bargain! Now, I have to reduce my shopping sprees even more… Hopefully, after the remixing process I will feel like I have tons of new clothes, according to fellow remixers - I’m soooo in for that!!

  
      To prove that style isn't always about trends
   Like I stated before, I'm not much of a shopper. Which means that most of the clothes I own (and you see here) were bought a million years ago!! If more people other than myself and the bf (and let's face it, he's not the most objective judge of outfits..) actually like my outfits then that’s it – point made!
 
   To improve my relationship. As silly as that may sound, give me a chance to explain... I’m currently unemployed which means that I can practically spend 7 months of the year in my pj’s!! And if you ask my boyfriend he’ll tell you he won’t mind! But my dear girls, if only nature (and men) were that simple! I remix, because I have a reason to get out of bed, get all dressed up and fancy and then feel good about myself!(ok...some of the days at least!). By dragging around my nagging bf in a pathetic attempt to turn him into a photographer, we get together time and beneficial exercise! (thank you Kendi)
 
Outfits:

Dress - 70's style vintage, from the flea market for 15 euro! 
Jacket - Local flea market (15 euro too!)
Black Sweater - Vintage V-neck (also seen here and here)
Red scarf - gift from a friend

Belt - French Connection (Asos)
Shoes - Hunter
Brooch - crocheted - bought ages ago!
Ring - Asos
Glasses - Just Cavalli
Heart earring - piece from a broken necklace!

Thursday, February 24, 2011

A day with a cause...

 Don't get me wrong: I don't really agree with bloggers that suddenly decide to express their political view and most of the times it turns ugly or starts a comment debate. 
 So I'm not gonna get into details and political beliefs. Or start to analyze how many deviant things happen in my country and people get away with it! I'm sure you can find many accurate political analysis about Greece if you want to be informed. I'm not here to do that...


 But in that general spirit of upheaval and due to the visit of the Minister of Education in our town, the local high school teacher's union gathered for a demonstration against the large cut-backs that recently were decided in the funds spent on education.
 Since the bf is a teacher we joined them and we agreed on making some banners the previous day. 


 Here I am painting and what really is this post about is my fantastic banner-making outfit! 


Outfit:
 
Pants - Asos
Inside Top - from Calzedonia
Navy sweater - local flea market (10 euro)
Woolen Scarf - gift from a friend
Necklace - Local shop
Shoes - cheap everyday flats
Glasses - Vogue (pink+purple)
Fancy socks - don't remember, but really cheap!

 Did you see my fancy socks?


And my necklace made of buttons?


Well... that demonstration didn't turn out good. But that's how life is, everything is acceptable. The good, the bad, the pretty, the ugly, the serious and the funny!

......The kitties had fun for sure!

 

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

A day of magic!

Yesterday it was a big day for me and I thought I'd share!
I went to Athens in order to shop for my first supplies!


Ok... Some explaining first! 
 When I was 3,5 years old, I was left at my grandma's for babysitting one day. My dear grandmother suddenly realised that I was nowhere to be found in the house and the door was open...


 She dashed to the street in search of her lovely grand-daughter and after a lot of panic she found me. I was right across the street, in a neighbor's store and I was trying to sell HIM tiny paintings that I've made! I had glued 3 toothpicks on the back side to make them look like miniature easels!

pic found here





 I've always had a connection to all forms of arts and over the years I had various artistic hobbies. 
 Due to different factors though I never got the chance to do something that I really LOVE = JEWELLERY!
 Yeap, the crazy ones that you see me wear all the time! I was always in search of jewellery like that and my favourite artist is strigles! (check her work here)


 
 And I was always thinking that I can make mine! Hence the trip to Athens!! I managed to finally save some money and buy the basic tools and some other stuff I thought would inspire me in order to get started!! So from now on (well not now, but hopefully by next month...I'm a busy gal!) you'll be seeing some of my creations!
 My dream is to be able to start my own ETSY or/and DaWanda store!! But practically I have a looooooong way ahead! I have no idea what to do with all that stuff and I'm up to my ears with tutorials+searching new trends+techniques+blogging+creating a working space in our spare room (I'll post about that eventually) + remixing + demonstrating(I'll post about that too...) +  commenting + having an actual life!!! Pheww! 
And I almost forgot: taking pics of myself in parks:

Outfit:
 
Skirt - local flea market
Top - Tee from Asos maternity
Brown Belt - vintage (from mommy)
Pink Belt - Asos (6 euro)
Boots - Local shop
Bag - On Pedder
Scarf and necklace - Asos
Hat - Local shop 


 See ya all next time! - Take care

Monday, February 21, 2011

10 random facts you maybe want to know about me!


 Hello my dears! 
 Do you remember when I mentioned in my last post that I have blogger's guilt?? Well I've been feeling guilty not because I don't post outfits every day as you maybe assume. 
 I just feel I haven't introduced myself properly... that I haven't shared enough personal info. Now that I have some followers I thought it would be interesting to get to know each other a little bit!! 
 So after seeing this in practically every blog that I visit I decided to give you the outfit of the day combined with a "10 things you maybe want to know about me" post!


 I'm really sorry for not knowing which blogger initiated this fine idea,so that I can give him/her some proper credit! I'm just tagging myself and here we go:

1. My name is Dimitra. It's a name that comes from ancient greek mythology. Demeter (directly translated= Mother of earth) was one of the twelve Olympian Gods. She was the goddess of earth, plants, fertility, fruition, nature and seasons. I really like my name sometimes!!


2. My favourite colours are blues (all shades of it), greens and purples.

3. For the biggest part of my life I had boy short hair. I'm absolutely hopeless in styling hair in anyway, especially now that I've managed to grow them longer. I'm THIS close in going back to looking like a 5-year-old-boy.... (this goes to you my love!) out of pure desperation!

4. I've been working really hard over the last 12 years during which I managed to change more than 15 jobs in tottaly different fields. That involved A LOT of studying and challenging myself  everyday and breaking my limits over and over, thus letting me feel a bit drained...

5. I'm currently working as a greek/english interpreter in a fire-fighting air-crane. For those of you not familiar with the term, it basically means that I'm inside a helicopter, flying over blazing fire and in charge of the radio communications. I'm doing this only during the fire season (June-October in Greece) so I'm unemployed during the winter.




6. I'm a very shy, sensitive and lonesome person. Somehow I manage to appear as the exact opposite... I don't have many friends, but I form really strong bonds with the people I do consider as friends.

7. I am more of an artistic person and I've studied interior design for 3 years only to realise that this is the wrong country and the wrong timing to do this as a job.

8. I left my small hometown and moved to Athens when I finished high-school at the age of 17. While being on my own at a tender age in a big city was scary, I managed to stay there for 8 years and I'm secretly proud of myself for doing so...

9. I love skirts and dresses and I just bought my first pair of trousers 2 months ago.... (other than pajamas and track-suit pants!)

10. I really don't follow fashion or the latest trends. For me there's really no point in doing so. I'm just a great supporter of good style and all things pleasing to the eye. Dressing up is one of them. I'm equally interested in the rest (design, art, architecture, photography, crafts, literature, poetry and in general anything that can lift the human spirit and can make you a better person!). The side-effects are a lot of movie-watching, a lot of book-reading, a lot of music-listening and significally less hours to spend in actually working!


I hope you enjoyed all the sharing as much as I did and I hope I'll get some comments with YOUR facts!!


 For today's outfit - blue all around, floral, neutrals and for the fun part a pin featuring Martz Simpson in a PLAYBOY cover (I just love that crazy stuff!!).

Outfit:

Skirt - Sprider stores 
White Top - probably as old as I am... 
Blue Top - Asos 
Belt - French Connection (Asos) 
Scarf - from Asos 
Shoes & Bag - Urban Outfitters 
Brooch - by Necty 
Glasses - Vogue


Thursday, February 17, 2011

My favourite skirt

 Hello again! How are you?
 I want to show you my favourite skirt!! I've bought it some years ago when I was working as a sales-girl in a little boutique in town! (Unfortunately it no longer exists... Many of my funky jewellery were also bought there!)


 When the lady who owned the boutique had brought it along with new stock, my heart melted!! I was secretly hoping that no one would buy it for a month, so I would gather the money to get it in between! 
 Well... nobody did!! It was love at first sight and we're together ever since! Wearing my skirt and a black top (usually) makes me feel really cool and really ME!!
 Why?? Apart from the very true: "It's not easy being a princess..." motto that I think applies to every girl, look at all those cool people that are crowded on my skirt:

 
 Partly for being in love with the skirt and partly because I have blogger's guilt*, I prepared this extra long, triple-post on "How to wear a loud funky skirt without making a fool of yourself and/or scaring away children"! 

(* for more on WHY I have blogger's guilt - See next post!)

 For now, let's focus on the outfits!!


 A black and white graphic design can of course be paired with a black top for a "safe" choice. But to add that extra happiness factor I added some colour!


A bright purple scarf combined with D&G animal print glasses - with bright pink around the lenses!


And for the fun part.....


Outfit:

Skirt - The one I saved for a month...
Black Top - Vintage V-neck (also seen here and here)
Scarf -
Achilleas Accessories
Belt - French Connection (Asos)
Tights - local flea market (3 euro)
Shoes - Tsakiris Mallas Boots
Earings - bought from the store I worked
Glasses - Dolce & Gabbana


 For the second outfit I kept it casual, changing to flat shoes, neutral colours and soft fabrics.


  
 I really love the new trend of combining many scarfs and belts together. To match the cool undertones of the outfit I wore my blue glasses, a purple-grey wooly cap, a silver ring and black hoop earrings!


Outfit:

Grey Top - Asos Maternity (also seen here and here)
Grey Scarf - American Apparel 

Black scarf - from mommy!
Belt - Urban Outfitters
Shoes - every day cheap flats
Earings - Hondos Center
Glasses - Vogue (blue/green)
 For the next outfit I thought I'd make it a bit more formal. So I mixed the skirt with a white shirt and black blazer, a wider black belt and higher heels.


 A Picasso painting turned into a brooch, a velvet red rose ring and a clutch bag are complimenting the whole "sophisticated" look!


Outfit:

Shirt - Attrativo (also seen here)
Jacket -
Local flea market
Scarf - free from a magazine
Belt - Asos
Shoes - Hunter
Brooch - by Necty
Ring - Asos
Glasses - Just Cavalli

See you next time!!

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Mixing neutrals.

 
  
One of my new favorite experiments when dressing up is trying to mix neutrals together. 
 I think it can be quite challenging, especially if your neutrals have different undertones (like here) and if you - like me up to a while ago - think that black is THE neutral colour to go.


 I think the key in doing that is repeating the colours or undertones in the outfit. 
 I'm not sure I've mentioned it, but my studies were in interior design and sometimes I treat an outfit as I would treat a room.  
 For a harmonious result you have to keep a flow in the colours you use. If you're decorating a room you would repeat your main colours 3-4 times to achieve harmony and  coziness! To apply that in an outfit...


.... I've paired the skirt and greyish top (they both have red undertones), the white-grey cardi with the white top, the jacket matches the green tights and the different shades of brown of the belt, shoes and bag are completing the outfit!


 Given that all these neutrals are kind of boring (at least for me) I went for my funky "Snoopy and Lucy" earrings!!


 And a custom made ring with bright-coloured circles!!



Outfit:

Skirt - Sprider stores
White Top - probably as old as I am...
Grey Top - Asos maternity
Light grey cardi - Urban Outfitters
Jacket - Urban Outfitters
Belt - French Connection (Asos)
Tights - local flea market (3 euro)
Shoes - Asos
Bag - Hunter
Ring/Earings - handmade (by my friend Necty!)
Glasses - Just Cavalli
 
And some Peanuts bonus for ya:



all peanut strips from here

And the one for Valentine's Day: 
"All you really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt."

Peanuts, Lucy Van Pelt
Kisses xxx        

A morning for shopping (a.k.a. Share a random moment!)

 Hello everybody! 
 Are you enjoying your weekend? It has been very warm and sunny around here lately, so it was a great day for a walk and shopping in the town! (I wasn't shopping for ME Kendi, ok? And it wasn't clothes in my defence!)


 I'm not in the mood of dressing up and looking nice lately! (it's those days of the month..). I guess you figured that out already by the scarcity of my posts lately.. But don't worry, I'll be my self soon, I promise!


 About the outfit: it was really important to feel comfortable and be able to walk! So, no fancy tights or anything.... Just a skirt, a slouchy sweater and comfy flat boots!


Oh, and my "Share a random moment" pin (made by my friend Necty), which sounds like a good advice when your mood is blue...


Outfit:

Skirt - local flea market
Sweater - local flea market (5 euro!! I love it!)
Shoes - Local store
Pin - handmade (by Necty)
Bag - On Pedder
Glasses - Vogue (colour: blue+green)




Friday, February 11, 2011

Everybody loves polka dot!

 Hello dear readers!! I want to apologize about the quality of the pics in this post. I took them last night and I had to use the flash and I really hate that! I hope you can make something out of them!
 Here we go:

 See the crappy light I'm talking about? The dress almost appears  blue while it's actually black! Kids don't use pictures like that in your blog - seriously! 


 Back to the outfit now. This is a very preppy, silk, strapless dress that I bought some years ago for my cousin's summer wedding.
 I wore it once and it was banned in my closet ever since... 
 I included it in my remixer's list because I was troubled by the fact that I've paid 150 euro for the bloody thing (that's a LOT for someone like me) and never used it, which made it the WORSE BUY ever (next to some too tight shoes)!


 I really like the way the tulle pops from underneath the skirt though!


Outfit:

Dress - "Mezzo Italy" bought from a local store
Sweater - Vintage V-neck
Belt - French Connection from Asos (11 euro!)
Shoes - Hunter
Necklace - Asos
Black Rose ring - Local store
Bag - Vintage 80's clutch bag (from mommy)
Glasses - Just Cavalli